Russell Crowe Looking To Direct 1970s Crime Drama '77'

EXCLUSIVE: Russell Crowe is seriously considering starring in and making his feature directorial debut in 77. The period cop movie has a script by David Matthews, a rewrite of an original screenplay by LA Confidential‘s James Ellroy. Dick Wolf and Tony Ganz are producing. Crowe has been itching to make his directing debut for years and this sounds like a dynamite premise. The drama connects two stories from 1974. It deals with the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer, and the nationally televised shootout in South Central L.A. between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD, where 50,000 rounds of gunfire were exchanged. The events will be seen through the eyes of two police partners, one black and one white. Crowe was attached to Bra Boys, the dramatic adaptation of the documentary about outlaw surfers in Australia, and before that flirted with directing the Australia-based WWII drama The Long Green Shore, based on the novel by John Hepworth. He’s awaiting a rewrite of the 77 script to see if this one will be the charm. WME reps him and the agency reps Matthews with Schiff Company.